5 Places You Must Visit Around DC

I was going to a Harry & the Potters show with my sister and our friend in Washington DC. We then made it a day trip around the city. We wouldn’t of been as tired, we should of made it a Georgetown & Washington DC only, but being able to go to Arlington was pretty awesome as well. All of things we went to were free and you should totally check out! We drove to all 3 locations, which has it’s pros and cons, but there’s also the metro!

There were two main reasons to check out Georgetown, VA. To go take a picture of Georgetown Cupcakes, which had it’s own show on Food Network for awhile. We didn’t make it inside, as there was a long line. So in the original movie, ‘The Exorcist’ these are the famous stairs by the house it was filmed at. Nothing really creepy about them, except the fact it’s a killer workout, lol. 97 stairs! I thought, “oh it can’t be that bad…” half way up them. You can find this location on Google Maps as ‘Exorcist’ Stairway located at 3600 Prospect St NW, Washington, DC 20007.

We also wanted to see the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, but you had to cross a highway from the National Cemetery to get to it. We also wanted to see the Air Force Memorial & the US Marine Corps War Memorial. But we weren’t aware you couldn’t drive to these things, you had to walk (or so we think, we didn’t ask really). So next time.. I never really realized how big the cemetery was until we walked most of it.

The first thing we checked out was where President John F. Kennedy grave site, at the top of that little section, you could look down and have a nice view of the district. If the trees were bare, it would of been a nice clear view. From there you could look up at the Arlington House where the Robert E Lee Memorial was at, we didn’t walk up there, there was some killer stairs we picked not to do.

After that we decided to go to check out the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which I was more excited to see then the rest of them. Well, excited isn’t the word, but I really wanted to see it in person. We happen to get there at the perfect time, we were able to see the ‘changing of guards’ which was really breathe taking, I will have to upload the video to YouTube, in the meantime you can check out a short video I posted on my Instagram.

So all this in red is what we walked… Half way through the walk, my dad told my sister, “Hey by the way, the cemetery has an app with a interactive map, for Apple & for Android (You will thank me later, you’re welcome!).

Then our dad told us where our grandpa (his dad) was buried at, so went to check that out. I don’t remember if I ever seen it before, I may of when I was younger, but I don’t honestly remember, I was never able to see him when I was alive. Anyways, he was located on the other side, we’re all.. “It won’t be that bad..” He is located at the Columbarium, which is located in the bottom right of the map above.

So right before that, you can see that strip of ground. That’s where they had new markers down of fallen heroes, I made it the whole time not crying. But that’s when it hit me how real it really was and how emotional it really was. On the way back to the Welcome center, we passed two groups of people going to funerals, that was sad to say the least, we choose a farther walk, than the closer walk, to pay our respects and not used the one road. I don’t believe I could handle it well anyways. Needless to say, if you ever have time in DC, I totally recommend you checking out Arlington National Cemetery!

So if we didn’t most of our time at the Arlington National Cemetery, we wouldn’t of been so sore by the time we got to all of the museums I actually wanted to see. I only have seen one of them and that was 14 years ago. Also the fact, I should of brought my selfie stick and portable chargers and possibly an actual camera not my stupid iPhone that dies super fast. These are from Nic’s phone, but none the less. I’ve never been this close to the White House before, so this was pretty cool. We’re going to have to make a trip up to DC again and see all of the museums on the National Mall again.

I am pretty sure we did more laps down random streets, but this is roughly the route we walked for most of the DC & National Mall walk. I was in a zombie state for most of it, because my feet were already hurting, I was tired and hungry as hell. So we have now learned why you metro to DC, I said it would be a good idea, but we were going to 3 different locations and they wanted to drive. Next time, we’re taking the metro..

Basically we parked on 14th & K St then walked to the National Mall, few places along that strip. Then walked to the White House then the long walk to the Black Cat. Then when we got out of there after midnight we walked back to the parking garage at 14th & K St. Which let me rant for a moment, they said it’s $7 a day. It closes at 4am, after that you have to wait til they open again the next morning (7am I think) So since it was after midnight it was a “new day” or some bs like that, we had to pay $27.. WHAT!?! ugh. We made it back without seeing any of those famous DC rats, which is a win-win in my book, but at the same time, I wanted to see how big people claim they are, lol. We’re going to have to make another trip sometime to check out more places and bring some portable chargers, so we can actually take pictures, lol.

Have you ever been to Arlington, Georgetown or Washington DC? What was your favorite place to visit?

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I'm Natalie, a tech-savy christian single mom of four who has recently stepped out of her comfort zone to find the meaning of life while sharing the utterly amazing things along the way. I currently work 3 jobs to make a living for my kids. I simply love coffee shops, traveling, a total foodie, and graphic design.

What an amazing trip! Good job packing all the good stuff into one day. We drove through Arlington once, a few years ago, and barely had time to stop at the national cemetery. I’d love to go back one day!

What an awesome trip! You got some amazing pictures! My grandparents took me to these places the year I turned 16 and it’s a trip I’ll not soon forget. I have a lot of special memories. It was fun to see your pictures and go down memory lane.

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Natalie is a North Carolina single mom who enjoys the simple things in life such as live music, great food, travel. When she's not blogging, you can probably find her making graphics, binging netflix or spending time with friends. more about me :)